Today the NBA returns. Today the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Chris Paul and Paul Pierce return to the hardwood after nearly six months away. Today, Christmas Day, the league welcomes all fans to return to their television sets
Today the NBA returns. Today the likes of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Chris Paul and Paul Pierce return to the hardwood after nearly six months away. Today, Christmas Day, the league welcomes all fans to return to their television sets to watch wall to wall coverage of the game’s reconvening.
Today, I ask you not to.
I’m not asking you to boycott the NBA the whole season. That would be wrong. Riding the high of last season, when the Dallas Mavericks shocked the world by defeating the hated Miami Heat, the NBA stands to reap the rewards of getting its product back on the court after the lockout.
With the condensed season, games will mean more. Division races will be tighter. Before we know it, the playoffs will be here and nobody will remember the 184 days in which rich players and richer owners squabbled over millions of dollars, leaving the game, and the fans, in the dark.
But how nice of the NBA to return today. Why spend the day with family, friends and egg nog when instead you can watch the Celtics play the Knicks or a title rematch between the Heat and Mavericks. That’s exactly the hope of NBA Commissioner David Stern.
The way he has presented today’s slate of games is that of a gift. He assumes that the fans will come back in droves at the first sound of dribbling. The stubbernous of the owners and players cost the fans a third of the season and will put an inferior product on the court to begin after a shortened preseason. And Stern thinks a full slate of Christmas games will wipe that slate clean?
Even the NFL isn’t touching Christmas this year. The NFL moved all but one of Today’s games to Saturday. The biggest sports league in the world knew that even it couldn’t expect fans to tune in all day on the holiday. But the NBA does has five games spanning three networks and more than 12 hours of the day. This doesn’t even factor in the pre- and post-game shows and the inevitable grind it into the dust coverage ESPN will provide.
So lets say you don’t watch the games. What should you do?
Here’s a suggestions if you have hoops on your mind. Gather a group of friends or family, and go play the game. Find a ball and a court and enjoy the time with people who care. Go swimming. Go hiking. Pig out on the food spread.
The holidays, and especially Christmas, are a time that is meant to be spent with those you love and care about. By watching the slate of NBA games, you’re spending a day with a bunch of people who don’t care about you as a fan.
By tuning in today, it’s sending a message to the league that says it can do whatever it wants. If the NBA knows the fans will return in droves with all forgiven, it won’t even think twice the next time a possible work stoppage comes along.
So today, just for the day, enjoy Christmas. Enjoy friends and family. And go back to enjoying basketball tomorrow. I will.
• Tyson Alger, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or by emailing talger@ thegardenisland.com. Follow him on twitter.com/tysonalger.
